Encounters of the Spirit: Native Americans and European Colonial Religion (Religion in North America)

Historians have long been aware that the encounter with Europeans affected all aspects of Native American life. But were Indians the only ones changed by these cross-cultural meetings? Might the newcomers' ways, including their religious beliefs and practices, have also been altered amid their myriad contacts with native peoples? In Encounters of the Spirit, Richard W. Pointer takes up these intriguing questions in an innovative study of the religious encounter between Indians and Euro-Americans in early America. Exploring a series of episodes across the three centuries of the colonial era and stretching from New Spain to New France and the English settlements, he finds that the flow of cultural influence was more often reciprocal than unidirectional. (2008)

Historians have long been aware that the encounter with Europeans affected all aspects of Native American life. But were Indians the only ones changed by these cross-cultural meetings? Might the newcomers' ways, including their religious beliefs and practices, have also been altered amid their myriad contacts with native peoples? In Encounters of the Spirit, Richard W. Pointer takes up these intriguing questions in an innovative study of the religious encounter between Indians and Euro-Americans in early America. Exploring a series of episodes across the three centuries of the colonial era and stretching from New Spain to New France and the English settlements, he finds that the flow of cultural influence was more often reciprocal than unidirectional.

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. . . historian Pointer. . . aims to show 'how contact with Indians shaped and reshaped European colonial religion'. . . . Summing Up: Recommended.

"Historians have long been aware that the encounter with Europeans affected all aspects of Native American life. But were Indians the only ones changed by these cross-cultural meetings? Might the newcomers' ways, including their religious beliefs and practices, have also been altered amid their myriad contacts with native peoples? In Encounters of the Spirit, Richard W. Pointer takes up these intriguing questions in an innovative study of the religious encounter between Indians and Euro-Americans in early America. Exploring a series of episodes across the three centuries of the colonial era and stretching from New Spain to New France and the English settlements, he finds that the flow of cultural influence was more often reciprocal than unidirectional."--Jacket Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Foreword......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Introduction......Page 20 1. The Sounds of Worship......Page 33 2. A Language of Imitation......Page 62 3. A Scene of New Ideas......Page 88 4. "Poor Indians" and the "Poor in Spirit"......Page 122 5. Martyrs, Healers, and Statesmen......Page 141 6. Encountering Death......Page 179 Epilogue......Page 218 Notes......Page 226 Bibliography......Page 274 Index......Page 298 Explores how Native Americans influenced the Christianity of their colonisers. Explores how Native Americans influenced the Christianity of their colonizers